Across the Fediverse - Rollleaf Drumlinhat

Tell us a little about yourself, who are you, what do you do, and what interests you about mini painting?

"Hi there! So I’m Rollleaf, yes - three Ls, or Robert will also do. I’m a Monaghan exile who strays between meandering and rambling through life that’s found himself living it up in Scotland. Miniature painting has become something of a great grounding rod for me in life, it sits perfectly on a crossroads of personal challenge and mindfulness for me."

How did you end up on the Fediverse/Mastodon/Pixelfed?

"My journey onto the Fediverse started with setting up a Hobby Twitter. I’d been a Twitter user for ages, but never had any interaction with people posting about this hobby. Strangely, hobby Twitter was something very different to my experience of normal Twitter, people tended to be a bit nicer when they engaged which admittedly wasn’t very often. But then the rumors stirred that that dreadful man might buy Twitter. I went looking for alternatives just in case. That’s when I first found Mastodon - I was utterly bewildered by what now seems like a simple on-boarding process, and left it at that. He hadn’t bought anything at this point and I wasn’t that arsed about finding a Twitter alternative. Obviously we know how this story progresses - himself bought Twitter, and that right there was my red line - I was leaving, without going too much into everything, I find him and his views repulsive and me deriving some joy from Twitter is not worth supporting him, simple. So I went back out into the wild looking for an alternative, eventually I remembered that Mastodon yoke. Emboldened by not having another choice I marched on got through the on-boarding. At this point in retrospect I’ve no idea what I found so hard."

"Finally getting onto Mastodon, and therefore the Fediverse, was like  a particularly marvelous penny dropping. Suddenly seeing a timeline that wasn’t permeated with advertising, shock content, promoted accounts, and algorithm driven trends - that was like someone taking a blindfold off I didn’t know I’d had on."

"I definitely think there’s a bit of a difference to getting on the Fediverse compared to being on it. For lots of folks, the commercially driven Social media is what they’re there for and they’ve got onto Mastodon/etc and decided it’s not for them - that is okay mind, everyone can choose how they want to engage in the digital social space. For me though, being on Mastodon for my digital social interactions has become the baseline for what I expect. I struggle now to engage with other platforms with organizational level manipulated timelines, I’ve got a massive value placed on being on Mastodon - the relationships I’ve developed there are very important to me and there’s substantially more of them than ones I’d made on Twitter. There’s something every different about being on the Fediverse, be it the smaller nature of servers, the types of folks that have stuck with it, or the lack of commercialization of the space - I’m not making a value judgement on this, its just different and for me - I love it. So, Mastodon isn’t a like for like Twitter alternative, rather a genuinely alternative way to engage in the digital space socially."

"So, yes, I could have said in one line: I got here through the tired trope of Twitter addiction who can’t stomach that man and fell across the Fediverse."

Want to share any contact information?

"Very happy for anyone to reach out and say hi on Mastodon! I’m over on Warhammer.Social at @RollleafD . I’m always happy to chat with anyone! Top interests for a natter are rubbish patter or the obvious one - hobby stuff!"

How long have you been in the mini painting hobby?

"Continuing miniature hobbyists tropes my miniature painting life is broken into two periods. I was young getting into the hobby 6/7, I’d gotten a couple of 5th Ed Bretonnian Plastic Knights, two blisters of 3 Metal Hand-gunners - one empire, one dwarf. An Uncle who’d be lightly interested in Miniatures but nothing from the GW [Games Workshop] stable, and who is an artist (Cartoon Animator) had me interested in painting - however, at that age I didn’t really know what I was doing, and wasn’t terribly focused on the process, so didn’t improve or even enjoy it. I was much more interested in playing games, and even had a low brow rules set that revolved around more D6 a for each weapon you had, everyone moving D6 and generally more D6s. So over about 10-12 years with and odd brief lapse in the hobby I didn’t really go anywhere with painting. "

"All my minis were donated to a Cousin when I “packed in the hobby” at about 18ish. University beckoned. I worry about how trope ridden my hobby journey was (I recently was round visiting and chatting to that cousin - and looked at some minis I’d started painting. Thick base coats, and 10% done paint jobs. Completely as I remembered, a bit terrible)."

"Roll on many years and in my very late 20s one thing lead to another. I’d finally been roped into a DND [Dungeons and Dragons] campaign and that lead me to buying a single Warhammer mini, Mordheim’s Aenur. It was a miniature I’d always wanted and just had never bought. I thought a big sword weirding elf in a cape was the coolest thing ever. I still think that. I’m going to blame that miniature for the second period of the hobby, the return. I kept Aenur aside, not wanting to muck him up, and started buying other kits and beginning what felt like a very long journey  to not being totally crap at painting. I’ve probably been back hobbying and painting now for a bit under 5 years. Thankfully, I’m older and more boring and now the chaos of youth has given way to liking a good process - so, I’ve gotten better. Admittedly from a low bar, but I’m now really happy with how I paint, and love learning to improve."

Are you primarily a war-game player or a mini painter?

"I’d always considered myself a war-gamer, but especially in the last 2/3 years - I’ve become more comfortable painting the balance is harder to call now. I definitely get to paint more than I play."

In your own words, what level of painter are you?

"I’m a mud slinging amateur, I like to paint in shades of brown and grime who’s on a big old journey to becoming amateur+."

What mini(s)/ model(s) are you using for your current project?

"My current Projects are about as scatter brained as I am. I’m a total hobby Magpie. The things I’m working on most at the minute are an entry to #FediPaint - an old metal miniature - a Dark Elf Noble, and a Bretonnian Exile Army, I’m theming it all around my own place of exile - Monaghan and having a tremendously good time developing a silly narrative for them. Beyond the Old World I’ve got some Kill Teams that are on the painting desk that stalled a little- I’ve a Voidscarred team that I’m looking the theme on that I want to get back to as well!"

What is your favorite part of the model(s) you are working on? What makes it your favorite?

"Across those three things - for the Dark Elf - I think it’s just discovering this miniature. As a younger hobbyist - the miniature needed to have a sword or I wasn’t really totally interested. And I didn’t dig Dark Elves. Those two things combined to mean this miniature never crossed my radar. So I’m looking at this old metal miniature and just discovering it for the first time. It’s an amazing pose, there’s an arrogance, and self assured nature to the stance its perfectly Dark Elf. The weapons crooked character, and the Phoenix Guard helm underfoot just cement this sort of cruelty that’s hard to articulate- it’s simultaneously gratuitous but the character is utterly despondent to it. It’s just a wonderful miniature that captures the essence of a great fantasy creation."

"The Bretonnians? Well, I just love this entire range and its themes. There’s so much character to everything. All the plastics scream Monty Python, but John Blanche wrote the script."

"As for the Voidscarred. I think it’s because it was a range of very detailed miniatures. And the kit has really, really pushed me. I’m half way there and I’m so happy with what I’ve got. It’s also a modern kit that really makes me appreciate the modern talent at GW's studios."

What are the most important paints that you are using for your current project?

"Volupus pink over a black base dry-brushed grey."

What do you like most about them?

"It’s a combination that puts down a base color for me that I end up transfixed on. It’s really makes me fall in love with the areas I’ve coated in it, and it jump-starts my sense of progress to the point I lose myself in the painting process."

What do you like least about them?

"Flesh, flesh, flesh. All three - it’s my weakest area and also the area I stall on. It has the opposite effect to my pink contrasts! I grind to a halt. But I’ll get there."

What are you learning while you paint the model?

"I’m mostly learning about highlighting that Pink (it comes up purple which is my intention, so I could maybe say - highlighting purple). It’s a color combination that I’ve been so happy with to date I’ve never bothered to add highlights. So it’s interesting to learn to bring things up a notch!"

Have any cool events coming up that you would like to share?

"Completely too late for this round - but I’d love to shout out #FediPaint on Mastodon hosted by @Berit. It’s a casual painting competition that’s mostly the very lovely crowd on Mastodon chatting about painting something special. It’s a right tonic!"